A statewide fight over fracking and a U.S. Senate race are set to collide between now and November, when Colorado voters will decide the fate of both.

Rep. Jared Polis (D., Colo.), one of the richest members of Congress, is bankrolling efforts to get an initiative on this year’s ballot in Colorado that would limit—and potentially ban– fracking in the state. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Udall, who is running for reelection, is in a political bind as he faces pressure from his GOP challenger Rep. Cory Gardner to oppose any ballot initiative and also from Mr. Polis—along with grassroots environmentalists—to support an initiative. Read More »

WASHINGTON–Several hundred cowboys, farmers, and native American tribes descended on the Mall on Tuesday as part of a protest against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Canada that could cross their lands in Nebraska and the Dakotas.

The “Reject and Protect” rally on Earth Day included members of the Cowboy and Indian Alliance, the anti-Keystone environmental groups Bold Nebraska and 350.org, and Washington-based green-issues activists from Earth Action Now. Read More »

The State Department unexpectedly announced Friday afternoon that it will extend indefinitely its review of the Keystone XL pipeline’s National Interest Determination, citing concerns about a Nebraska state court ruling in February invalidating the latest pipeline’s route.

The extended review will likely push back any final decision by President Barack Obama on whether to approve Keystone past the midterm elections in November. Pipeline opponents and supporters say it was a political ploy to take pressure off the White House and Democrats this election season.

Climate change is one of the issues at the top of President Barack Obama’s agenda, and now it’s getting big budget treatment in Hollywood, at least by documentary standards.

A nine-part series called “Years of Living Dangerously” will debut this coming Sunday evening on Showtime–emphasizing stories “from the front lines” of climate change impact. The first episode, now available online, stars actors Harrison Ford and Don Cheadle, two of the series’ correspondents. Read More »

Nearly a dozen Senate Democrats, including five up for re-election this year, are pressing President Barack Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline by the end of next month.

Most Republicans support the pipeline, but the 11 Democrats who wrote a letter to Mr. Obama urging him to approve the project deliberately made it a one party-effort. While a set of bipartisan signatures can be a powerful thing in the art of Washington letter-writing, these lawmakers clearly want to accentuate the pressure Mr. Obama faces from his own party on this issue. Read More »

House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R., Ky.) clearly isn’t happy with the EPA move this week to expand the reach of its clean-water rules to include small streams and wetlands, including those that dry up in the summer.

At a Thursday hearing with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy, Mr. Rogers suggested the EPA wasn’t likely to see any money anytime soon to support the new water protection regulations issued on Tuesday by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers. Expanding the number of water bodies covered by the EPA is important in Kentucky, where coal mining is a major industry and runoff from surface mines is a major environmental issue. Read More »

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday that it would list the Lesser Prairie Chicken as a “threatened species.” While the move would limit ranching, farming, and building on the birds’ habitat, which is largely in Kansas and also parts of Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas, the service said it would put in place a “special rule” to limit regulatory impacts on landowners and businesses. Read More »

An alliance of clean-energy groups is launching a $5 million campaign of issue ads and an 11-state grassroots effort on Monday in support of three Democratic Senate candidates who have been attacked in ads from Americans for Prosperity, which is supported by the conservative Koch brothers.

Several green groups including the Sierra Club, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Sustainable Business Council Action Fund, will pay for $2.5 million in TV and digital issue ads supporting embattled Sen. Kay Hagan in North Carolina, and Senate candidates Rep. Gary Peters of Michigan and Rep. Bruce Braley of Iowa. Read More »

When President Barack Obama hired John Podesta, an outspoken environmentalist who opposes the Keystone XL pipeline, as his special adviser late last year, many environmentalists anticipated that they were getting a strong ally in the West Wing.

Maybe so. But on Wednesday, Mr. Podesta showed that he’s not afraid to push back at environmental groups when he feels they’re going too far. Read More »

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.